Prospect Talent Score

Probability of Success

History

2009-10: Colton Sissons played junior hockey as a 16-year-old with the BCHL’s Westside Warriors. He scored 6 goals with 16 assists and had 29 penalty minutes in 58 games. In the playoffs he had 1 goal with 1 assist and 4 penalty minutes. The Kelowna Rockets obtained his WHL rights from the Saskatoon Blades following the season.

2010-11: Sissons skated in 63 games for Kelowna in his first WHL season. He scored 17 goals with 24 assists and was plus-15 with 46 penalty minutes. The Rockets reached the second round of the playoffs after finishing first in the BC Division and in 10 playoff games Sissons scored 3 goals with 3 assists and was plus-two with 6 penalty minutes.

2011-12: Sissons got off to a fast start in his second season with Kelowna, scoring 20 goals in the team’s first 35 games, and finished as the Rockets’ third-leading scorer. In 58 games he scored 26 goals with 15 assists and was minus-14 with 62 penalty minutes. The Rockets, one of the younger teams in the WHL, were no match for powerful Portland in the first round of the playoffs. In the four game series with the Winterhawks Sissons scored 1 goal with 1 assist and was minus-seven with 2 penalty minutes. Sissons was ranked 14th amongst North American skaters in Central Scouting’s final rankings prior to the 2012 NHL Draft.

2012-13: Sissons signed a three-year entry-level contract with Nashville in September 2012 before returning to Kelowna for his third WHL season. A captain for the Rockets in his third season, he put up big numbers despite missing most of December after suffering a concussion. In 61 games he scored 28 goals with 39 assists and was +43 with 54 penalty minutes. One of the more freewheeling clubs in junior hockey, the Rockets finished first in the B.C. Division and reach the second round in the playoffs. Sissons missed the playoffs due to an arm injury.

2013-14: Sissons made his NHL debut with Nashville as a 20-year-old in a January game against Winnipeg and skated in 17 games for the Predators in his first pro season. He scored his first NHL goal in a March game against Buffalo and had three assists; finishing the year with an even plus/minus and four penalty minutes and averaging 10:37 minutes of ice time. Sissons played 62 regular season games and three playoff contests for Nashville AHL affiliate Milwaukee. He scored a team-high 25 goals with 19 assists and was minus-three with eight penalty minutes during the regular season and was minus-three with one assist and two penalty minutes in the playoff series against Toronto.

2014-15: Sissons was the third-leading scorer for Nashville AHL affiliate Milwaukee in his second pro season. Overcoming a slow start to the season, he was second on the Admirals with 25 goals, one behind team leader Austin Watson, and had 17 assists in 76 games, finishing with an even plus/minus and 27 penalty minutes. Sissons scored 6 of his 25 goals on the Milwaukee power play and had four game-winning goals. The Admirals missed the playoffs, finishing fifth in the Midwest Division. Sissons was one of nine Milwaukee players called up by Nashville during the NHL playoffs but did not appear in any games.

Talent Analysis

Sissons is a two-way center with a bit of offensive upside. His defensive skills are well-formed, and he isn't afraid to join puck battles along the boards. Sissons' skating is adequate; he can keep up once up to speed, but does not have explosive initial acceleration. He has been a goal scorer at the junior and minor league levels but his niche in the NHL game is expected to be that of a defensive lower line center.

Future

Sissons is one of several players from Milwaukee who will challenge for a lower line forward spot with the Predators in training camp. Entering his third year of pro hockey in 2015-16, Sissons appeared in 17 games with the Predators in his first year when Barry Trotz was coaching Nashville but spent the entire season in the AHL last year. Sissons skill set and two-way play suggests he can be a valuable lower line forward who chips in offensively. Whether he fits in with the more wide open skating game preferred by Predators coach Peter Laviolette remains to be seen.

Photo: 2014 1st-round pick Kevin Fiala remains the Nashville Predators’ top prospect but carrying the worst plus-minus for the Milwaukee Admirals suggests he has work to do before becoming a trustworthy NHL player (courtesy of Jonathan Kozub/NHLI via Getty Images)

The 2015-16 season has been an eventful one for the prospects in the Nashville Predators system. The top of the list remains largely intact but several players have either had breakout seasons or no longer seem to fit in the organization’s plans. Read more»

Photo: After spending last season as one of the Liiga’s best starters as a 19-year-old, Juuse Saros is performing well as a rookie goaltender in the AHL (courtesy of Danny Murphy/Icon Sportswire)

Coming off of last year’s breakout season the Nashville Predators went into the 2015-16 with their roster largely intact. With much of the lineup from last year intact, and free agents Cody Hodgson and defenseman Barret Jackman added in the offseason, there were few opportunities for rookies to crack the Predators lineup.

Photo: Nashville Predators prospect Pontus Åberg has been a streaky scorer this season as he looks to beat his goal-scoring total from his rookie campaign (courtesy of Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire)

The Nashville Predators have not been as dominant this season as they were to start the 2014-15 season — due in part to injury — but the team is once again in the thick of what is a very competitive Central Division race.

One encouraging sign is the success of the club’s two minor league affiliates. Both the AHL‘s Milwaukee Admirals and the Cincinnati Cyclones in the ECHL have had to shuffle their lineups at times but no matter who is in the lineup those players seem to be contributing.

Photo: Kevin Fiala remains Nashville’s best prospect but might need an exceptional AHL start to propel him into the NHL (courtesy of Frederick Breedon/Getty Images)

With the exception of goaltender Magnus Hellberg being traded to the New York Rangers — and some uncertainty about the progress of top defense prospect Jack Dougherty — little has changed in the top half of the Predators Fall Top 20 from the previous list last spring.

Photo: Toronto Marlies forward and Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Connor Brown was chosen to take part in the 2015 AHL All-Star Classic in January (courtesy of Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire)

The American Hockey League’s Western Conference will undergo some major re-structuring over the summer as five AHL teams will be playing in California beginning in the 2015-16 season. But before the westward expansion takes place, there are several elite prospects playing in the Western Conference this season looking to make the full-time jump to the NHL. Read more»